Presence vs Presents......

A really crappy dad I know wrote this as his facebook status recently.....“Your children need your presence more than your presents.” ~Jesse Jackson"

And while I agree with the sentiment, it really started me thinking - because I know what kind of dad he is - he is not present nor does he give many presents to his child.  As a matter of fact, he never spends his parenting time with his daughter, his parents and sister and brother buy the child's clothing, and his parents have always provided the child's Christmas, while his sister-in-law has always done the Easter baskets, etc. 

So I was fuming about this and discussed it with David.  And he applied it to relationships as well.  And that is true - friends, children, parents, spouses, etc - we all need your presence more than your presents, but it is so much fun to get presents!  lol 

Anyway, we talked about how little time we spend together.  That is not getting better since he has started his new job, it has gotten worse..... but we have a plan.  And his new job will actually help with that since he will have 2-4 days off in the middle of the week while the kids are at school once he finishes his training. :)  We can have a "date night" in the afternoon every week - instead of the once a month or rare once in a blue moon like a lot of couples seem to have.  It starts today, so we'll see how it goes!

Also, David has been buying me gifts..... you have to understand that during our entire courtship/marriage, he was a TERRIBLE gift buyer.  Seriously terrible..... I know that may sound ungrateful or something, but seriously bad.... 

He did buy a few pieces of jewelry that I loved, but once he caught on that I liked those, he bought the same ring and pendant in EVERY stone available..... it was overwhelming and repetitive.  It reminds me of the conversation I had with my sister-in-law about how many bottles of Stetson and Alabama T-shirts I could really buy for my dad before I slit my wrists......  anyway......

So, David has been buying me gifts - big gifts......

He bought me a laptop. :)  Woot!  I needed a new one and was not wanting to spend the money.... then I stuck my thumb through the screen of my beautiful pink laptop ......So he bought me a new one and had it delivered to me directly......

Then he bought me a new Kindle <3  It just came yesterday and I love it!!!  I had one, but it was Wifi only.  This is the 3G one and has "Special Offers" aka COUPONS!!!!  LOL  So, he is getting better.....



And then 2 weeks ago, he bought this......

 

It looks suspiciously like an engagement ring and I suspect that that is what he intended.  BUT I am not ready to decide anything right now, so we have avoided calling it anything.....  It means simply means that he is getting better with the gift buying :)